


Brave New World

by WeaverOfWorlds



Category: Hermitcraft, Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: Area 77, Gen, Other, Self-Indulgent, Self-Insert
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-03
Updated: 2020-02-23
Packaged: 2020-11-22 18:41:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 6,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20878883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WeaverOfWorlds/pseuds/WeaverOfWorlds
Summary: After stepping freeing itself from its cell, Subject 097 finds the intruders who raised the alarms and takes the chance of freedom





	1. Chapter 1

Alarms blared through Area 77, and in its cell, Subject 097 stopped mid-conversation with Lot, one of the scientists assigned to keep it entertained, its whole body jolting in surprise.

“W-what’s that? An alarm?” it said, voice trembling. “This hasn’t happened before do we need to evacuate?”

Lot glanced around cautiously, “I don’t think so, no.” She brushed an onyx curl behind an ear, “if there’s a containment breach then we might have to but so far it just seems there’s been a break in.”

“Is there a different alarm for a containment breach?”

“Yea, for that there’s a voiceover spelling out the protocol.”

097 smiled for a moment, glancing aside as an idea came to it, and quickly arranged its features into a look of sincere worry. “You should probably check in on the others; y'know Sen and Leani and Chris, maybe these intruders broke in through your guys’ quarters. If they got in here they’re probably armed and who knows how willing to kill they’d be.” Its clear blue eyes glowed faintly as it invoked its power. “They could have poison gas or knives and swords, unless you save them you might find them lying in the lab gutted like fish. They could be in so much pain and immeasurable fear. Please I’m so scared for them!”

Lot’s face blanched, her dark skin losing its glow and taking up a lightly grey tint as the images 097 conjoured in her mind began to crystallise. “Y-you’re right, I’ll go check. Just… just stay there, if you break out General Scar is gonna have my head mounted on his wall.”

Before 097 could respond, Lot dashed off down the corridor in the direction the subject knew the researchers lived on-site.

097 waited a minute, straining its hearing until the echoes of Lot’s footfalls faded away.

A grin spread over its face and it squared its shoulders. “In the thick glass wall, a change occurred; slowly the glass darkened, the material toughening and morphing into wood as a beautiful dark oak door formed in its surface, polished surface shining in the harsh artificial lights of the cell.”

As 097 narrated, the change it spoke took place, a door now clear in the wall of its cell. It reached out and grasped the glittering brass doorknob and opened the door, walking right through the new opening and striding out of its wing of the facility.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After stepping freeing itself from its cell, Subject 097 finds the intruders who raised the alarms and takes the chance of freedom

It didn’t take long for 097 to get thoroughly lost. It found itself hopelessly turned around in the never ending identical halls of Area 77, the confidence draining away and being replaced by a familiar fear.

Suddenly, though, it began to hear voices; three men (at least they sounded like the men that it had heard speak before) who were arguing amongst themselves. Hope sparking up again, they ran as fast as they could towards the voices, bare feet slapping loudly against the shining floor.

They rounded a corner, and saw the three figures it had heard climbing into a big white box. “Wait!” It cried out, voice cracking in its desperation, “take me with you, please!”

A man with the beard and canine ears poked his head out of the machine thing, “huh? You okay man?”

A vest-wearing man also looked out at it, taking in its appearance; the white gown, bare feet, tired eyes, “Ren, I think she’s a test subject. Grian! There room for another in there? We’ve gotta help her.”

“Gimme a sec i gotta get this set up, I’ll be right with you.”

“There’s no time dude, they’re gonna know exactly what we’re after they’ll be here in no time. We gotta grab and go and she’s gotta come with us who knows what they’re doing to her.”

“Alright bring her in we’re about to set off.”

097 rushed forward, clambering up the scaffolding and bundling itself into the tiny box. “Thank you so much, I’ll repay you I promise.” It looked around, taking in all the metaphorical bells and whistles, eyes catching an empty item frame on one wall, “um, is anything meant to be in there?”

The one that 097 assumed was Grian paled slightly, “uh, yea but it probably doesn’t matter.” He pulled the last lever and turned to the clock on the wall, “okay I just gotta turn this three times and we’re home free. Hold on tight guys.”

As the clock turned a third time, the box they were in began to quake and light filled 097’s vision and its stomach began to turn.

There was a whooshing sound like a gale buffeting the walls of the machine, and as suddenly as it began, it came to a halt, and as the light faded, the machine had vanished.

“Uh, was this supposed to happen?” 097 asked, rubbing its eyes, but before it could comment further the stars left its eyes and it saw that all four of them looked identical; dark-skinned men in blue shirts with beards. Its voice grew shrill and panicked, “Uh was this part of the plan?!?”

The other three looked at each other and gave a sharp inhale through their teeth. “Shit.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Its first experience with The Outside being not at all what it was hoping for, 097 begins to bond with its rescuers

If this was how the Outside was supposed to look, 097 wasn’t impressed. Just ugly gravel and sand and grass and trees, nothing like it had imagined. No sight of the vines and flowers and rabbits and fish that Lot had told it about.

The men who had rescued it were panicking, talking about how the material the machine had been made from didn’t exist in ‘this version’ which very much confused it.

It wiggled its toes in the grass, giggling a little as the blades tickled her feet. While things weren’t exactly pretty, what was here did have a lovely calming effect on it.

One of the men approached 097 from behind, gently laying a hand on its shoulder. It couldn’t tell which one he was since they all looked the same, but from the way he carried himself, it assumed it was the one with the canine ears who had been referred to as Ren. “Hey, you okay?” He asked softly, “sorry about this, we had no idea something like this could ever happen.”

097 shrugged, “it’s okay, anything is better than my cell, it’s nice to finally see the sky that Lot spoke about so much.”

“Was Lot another test subject like you?”

“No, she was one of the scientists. The general assigned her to keep me entertained since I tend to use my powers when I’m bored and I get bored easily.”

“Are those powers why you were locked up in there?”

“I guess so, it’s all I can remember.”

“You’ve been there your whole life? Shit man that’s rough.”

Another shrug, “not if you don’t know anything else.”

“C'mon Ren, if we’re gonna get home we’re gonna need a whole block of diamond you gotta pull your weight too!” Grian’s voice echoed from the direction of the nearby house that had been built up by the group for shelter.

Ren winced, “coming!” he looked back to 097, “sorry about this.”

The test subject smiled brightly, “it’s okay, I’ll keep myself busy. Maybe I’ll try my powers out to help make the house look prettier while you’re gone.”

Ren glanced up at the darkening sky, “Shit. And there’s no sleeping in alpha so we’re gonna have to wait the night out.”

After a brief conversation with the others, Ren called the team together as the four huddled in their house as hostile creatures groaned outside.

“So,” Grian ventured, “do you have a name?”

097 looked at the leader in confusion, “name?”

“You’ve gotta have a name, right? Like. I’m Grian,” He gestured at himself, “that’s Rendog,” he pointed at the only other one whose name it had already picked up on, “and this is Impulse.” He gestured to the third rescuer.

It tilted its head to the side, “I mean, I’m referred to as Subject 097 if that’s what you mean.”

The three men looked at each other and winced.

“Is that wrong?”

“I mean, not really, but it sounds so clinical.” Impulse said, “do they call you anything else?”

“I think they called me The Weaver once?”

Grian nodded. “Weaver is a nice name, very grand. Why did they call you that by the way?”

Weaver, as it was now called (no, not it, she) grinned, “I can show you if you’d like.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mostly exposition, nothing really of any substance, but only because I wound up writing this around midnight and I'm very tired

All three men looked at her in astonishment, “you’d show us?” they said in gleeful unison.

“I mean you’re the first people I’ve met that haven’t tried to experiment on me, I’ll happily show you what I can do.” Weaver glanced around, looking for something to replicate, struggling to find something impressive enough to really make the men feel like they didn’t make a mistake in rescuing her, but eventually she hit on it.

She arranged her expression to one of concentration and stared intently at a spot on the middle of the floor and began to narrate. “Weaving itself into existence from the earthen floor, a small figurine of a man with dark spruce coloured skin and coal black eyes began to form. Stitch by stitch, it becomes clothed in an aqua shirt and gray pants before raising slightly off the ground and finally falling to a sitting position upon completion.”

She knew what the men were seeing; needle and thread in a pale blue that matched her eyes, literally weaving her words into reality. And as her show was complete, she looked up at her new friends to see their reaction, and was delighted with what she saw.

The three identical men wore three identical expressions of childlike wonder, stammering and lost for words.

Weaver tilted her head and smiled innocently, “are you okay? Did I go too far again?”

“That was… that was amazing holy shit so that’s why you’re called The Weaver.” Impulse gasped.

“Is there a limit to this?” Grian inquired, “like could you get us a diamond block? Could you get us quartz even?”

“Diamond, no. That was one of the first things they tried to make me do back at the facility. There seems to be a limit on the value of thing I can create, just like I can only create extremely simple lifeforms, nothing more than fish. Though, to be fair I’ve only ever seen lifeforms other than people via photographs and Lot’s stories. So I can’t describe them vividly enough, so that might contribute to the problem I’m not sure. But quartz, I might be able to manage, I’m not really sure I don’t think I’ve ever tried.”

“Okay, Impulse and I will go mining for the diamonds we’re going to need, since I’m pretty sure beacons would fall under the umbrella of things too valuable to be woven. Grian, you and Weaver can gather food as a backup plan to help us stay alive for however long we need to stay and see if Weaver can get us some quartz.”

The three men all nodded in agreement, all now full of confidence. The sun was beginning to rise by now, and they didn’t want to waste any time.

As Ren and Impulse strode off to mine, Grian looked to Weaver with a determined and friendly smile. “You ready to get out there?”

She nodded. “Never been more ready for anything in my life.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the men gather the important resources that they'll need to get to what they refer to as "home", Weaver busies herself in improving their shelter a bit so she doesn't go mad with boredom and so she doesn't have to kill the very adorable animals she's only just met.

As Grian chased a small herd of what she recognised from Lot’s stories to be cows, Weaver wandered over to the nearest group of trees to the tiny wooden hut that the men had erected in panic the night before and pensively began to consider ways to expand it. She regarded an axe that Impulse had left leaning against one of the trunks and cautiously attempted to pick it up; unsurprisingly, it was far too heavy.

As she muttered under her breath, a large hand of a sparkling light blue was woven into existence clutching an appropriately sized axe and began to cut down one of the trees, stacking the logs at its summoner’s feet.

After only a short amount of time, she’d accumulated around ten logs which she was able to quickly craft into a very large pile of wooden planks. She also looked through some of the chests and found a stack of cobblestone, which she also commandeered, and with an image in her head, she got to work.

Her first task was to remove the small hut, something that the large hand made easy, and to lay a foundation layer of the cobble. She considered for a moment how large the house would need to be, since she had no idea what a person needed to survive on their own in The Outside, so she decided on a relatively large seven by five. After laying the outer ring of cobblestone, she filled it with wooden planks to serve as the flooring and began to build up the walls, leaving a gap a few blocks off center for the door.

Glancing at the oak door that lay to the side from the small hut, The Weaver briefly considered making her favourite dark oak door instead, but in the end decided against it; after all, using her powers too much was exhausting and, as she’d found out the previous night, it was even harder if the materials she was trying to conjure didn’t exist naturally.

So after she slowly and determinedly placed the door by hand, she crafted a few wooden stairs and created a way to the top. First, she began to lay the roof, leaving a three block high ceiling in the room below, and leaving a gap at the top of the stairs which, for safety reasons she erected a kind of tented thing over it using fence posts and stairs and planks so nothing could get in.

Next, she added fence posts all around the rest of the roof perimeter to prevent a dangerous fall.

By now it was beginning to get dark, and suddenly The Weaver heard a loud gasp from behind her. She turned and walked towards the other edge of the roof; as usual it was impossible to tell at a glance which of the men it was, but since the two miners had departed in the opposite direction to where this one came from, it was fairly easy to deduce that it was Grian.

“So that’s what you were up to, not bad at all!”

Weaver blushed slightly, “thanks,” she turned her attention to the direction the other two were in, “do you think they’ll be okay working through the night? Don’t things get really aggressive then?”

“Creatures in cave systems are always aggro regardless of time of day, they’re not gonna be able to tell anything is different.”

She nodded, “that’s good. I’d hate for something bad to happen to any of you, you all seem so nice.”

Grian laughed, “I mean it’s not hard to clear the bar is it? Considering everyone you’ve met so far you said had been experimenting on you.”

“That true,” she smiled, “while the science team weren’t that bad, they were still very eager to find out what I was capable of, and didn’t seem to care how they did that.”

By now the sky outside was dark as coal, the only illumination coming from the few torches that Grian had placed when he’d gotten back, and the beautiful silver moonlight shining through the gap in the ceiling. The darkness was relatively new to The Weaver too, and the moonlight was definitely a brand new experience.

As strange as everything was, she felt quite calm; whoever these men were, she trusted them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No I don't know why she can't lift the axe when she's a Steve too, I don't plan these things they just Happen


	6. Chapter 6

By the time the next morning came, Grian had grown antsy; the others hadn’t come back yet, and they’d been gone the whole previous day.

“You can cope on your own, right?” He asked, concern clear in his voice.

“Of course, bad things only come out at night, right?”

“Not necessarily, you’re gonna need to be on watch for creepers; big upright green things that walk on four small feet. They’re as big as we are and they explode when they get close. They’re silent too, only making a hissing sound when they’re literally just about to blow, so you’ll really need to keep your guard up.”

Weaver nodded, “got it. Would it be best if I stick to around the entrance to where you guys are working, so I can run in and hide if any show up? Also I could run supplies down if you run out.”

“Actually that’s not a bad idea. We’ll probably need a supply of wood for sticks in case our pickaxes break, and maybe some food in case of falls or accidentally coming across lava.”

“Got it. Let’s go find the others.”

As they set off, Weaver could have sworn she saw Grian smile to himself good-naturedly at what she presumed was her enthusiasm. Lot had told her that some people find such a trait to be endearing and that if she ever escaped it would probably be her greatest asset aside from her powers, so she made a mental note that such a thing was true with the team leader.

They were about halfway to their destination when Grian suddenly stopped dead in his tracks, the darkened skin of his new form turning a dull, ashened grey. He was afraid.

“Grian? Are you okay?” Weaver was confused, concerned, the man had shown himself to very calm and collected so far, so what could be bothering him?

“That can’t be right, he’s just a myth, right?”

“Who is?”

Grian didn’t answer, “does he live in alpha? I… he can’t be real.”

“Grian?”

“Herobrine. He just…”

“Who’s that?” That name sounded faintly familiar. Weaver began to feel Grian’s concern; the man seemed to radiate pure fear and it was contagious.

“It’s complicated,” he replied, “it’s an old urban legend, the spirit of the dev’s brother trapped in the game as a malicious entity. It’s said he looks like a Steve, what we look like now, but with glowing white eyes, and he can manipulate the code and shit and sometimes leaves weird structures around the game world to taunt you.”

“Okay I understood like 90% of what you just said but—”

Suddenly, she stopped short. Over Grian’s shoulder she saw a figure identical to what he’d just described, and suddenly she remembered.

“Triple 0?” she gasped. That’s where she knew the name from. That was the name on the nameplate outside his cell.

Grian spun around, but the figure had vanished. He turned back to her, his eyes now suspicious. “You know him?”

Weaver shook herself out of her stunned state, “Yea but we should keep moving, we gotta check on Impulse and Ren. I’ll explain later.”


	7. Chapter 7

The rest of the journey to the cave passed in silence. It was clear that Grian’s trust in her was beginning to wane, and Weaver was lost in her own mind. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d spoken to 000, time had never really made sense to her, and after she’d first been caught talking to him, Lot had been almost permanently by her cell. It was clear that Doctor Cub and the General didn’t want her speaking with him, but she wasn’t sure why.

For a while after Grian vanished into the mouth of the cave, Weaver sat in the grass by the entrance idly fiddling with the soft green blades. Grian’s reaction to 000 appearing seemed to suggest he was dangerous, but to he’d never tried to hurt her before.

She nodded, decision made, and got to her feet. “Triple 0?” she called out, “are you still here?”

Silence.

Not that she expected him to actually speak; in all the time she’d spoken to him he’d always been non verbal, rendering their conversations very one sided, but she’d always leave a pause in the conversation in case he felt like saying anything.

“Triple 0?”

There was a crackling of static and the air in front of her ripped and teared and suddenly he was standing right in front of her.

He looked at her with an emotionless gaze, his thoughts impossible to parse just from looking at him. She remembered that the scientists had a theory that he couldn’t feel emotions at all, something that Lot didn’t agree with. Lot thought that 000 just had trouble expressing his emotions, rather than not feeling them to begin with, a sentiment that Weaver agreed with.

Weaver smiled brightly, “there you are! It’s nice to see you again Triple 0, how did you escape?”

As expected, he didn’t say anything. While she wasn’t scared of him, there had always been something in the blank way he stared at her that put her ill at ease.

“Did you hitch a ride on the outside of the time machine? Wasn’t that painful? Even on the inside it was a really rocky ride. I guess you are super cool after all.” She laughed.

000’s expression, or lack thereof, didn’t waver for an instant. He just looked at her blankly, seeing right through her.

“Why was Grian scared of you? You’ve never been threatening to me before, you’ve always been really nice.”

She assumed that it was because they knew each other, or because he’d been in his cell. That he’d never hurt her because he’d never been able to.

“He mentioned that maybe you lived here, is that right? Is this place your home? Do you wanna stay?”

She was hoping for some kind of reaction to that question at least, but nothing happened.

She sat back down and patted the grass beside her, “You wanna just sit here and chill?”

She didn’t expect anything, he’d always been non responsive, she’d always just kinda hoped he could hear her, so she was very surprised when 000 slowly and stiffly sat down next to her, his hands idlly playing with the grass as he continued to stare into the middle distance.

She’d explain everything to the guys later. For now, she was just enjoying some familiar company.


	8. Chapter 8

Only a short while after 000 had shown up, darkness quickly began to fall. Weaver looked up from the grass hats she’d been hand-weaving in shock, only just noticing the diminishing light.

“Oh shit.” She muttered, “fuck it’s getting dark.” She got up, picking up the hats and moving towards the entrance of the cave. “You gonna be okay Triple 0?”

000 looked up at her, head tilted in what almost looked like curiosity. He looked up at the now inky sky and glanced around.

Weaver could practically see the gears turning in his head as she cautiously approached him, keeping her guard up in case of zombies.

As soon as she got close enough, 000 raised his arms and, out of a cloud of static, a small but rather pretty house built itself around them.

Weaver gasped, staring at her friend with glittering, star-filled eyes. “Wow! You don’t even need to talk to build things, that’s so cool!”

She didn’t expect any kind of response, she’d never seen him emote in any kind of way, but as she looked up at him she saw something even more astonishing than the conjuration of the shelter;

He smiled, warmly, at her excitement.

The Weaver was lost for words, she’d never seen any expression on his face other than an emotionless and empty stare, and finally seeing him happy for the first time made her completely forget about the traitorous environment around her.

By the time morning came, both of the escaped test subjects were wearing grass hats and Weaver had three others waiting for the men who had rescued them.

They’d sat in silence, mostly just enjoying the quiet company of each other, for the duration of the night and relishing in the fresh night air that they’d never experienced before coming here.

Ren, Impulse and Grian returned shortly after dawn, sprinting over with diamond block in hand.

As she glanced out the window, Weaver heard a crackle of static and turned back to see 000 had vanished.

“Come back with us, please,” she muttered, “however it was you got here please come back with us.”

Not knowing if she’d gotten a reply, she grabbed the hats she’d made and ran out to meet them, handing them out with a smile. “We going?” she asked, “did you get everything you were looking for?”

The men eagerly took the hats and put them on, Grian speaking up first “yep, got the iron and diamonds and stuff so we’re all ready to go. I just need one of you to hold this compass and another to hold the clock since item frames don’t exist here.” He adjusted the hat on his head, “also this is really neat thanks. Did you use your powers to make these?”

She grinned, “Nope! All by hand.” She bounced on the balls of her feet excitedly, “I’m so excited to see what The Outside really looks like, Lot told me so much about rabbits and flowers and fish I can’t wait to finally see them.”

Ren laughed and slapped her on the back as they all filed into the makeshift time machine, “oh you’re gonna love it. We’ve got cats and dogs too they’re the actual best things in the game.”

Before Weaver could express her continued confusion at the mention of games, Grian spoke up.

“Okay guys hold on tight, I just gotta flip this switch and we’re off.”

They all braced themselves, and as Weaver silently hoped 000 was coming with them, the machine began to shake violently and her whole world was filled with blinding light

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Am I gonna be That Bitch and make Herobrine babey?  
Yes  
Yes I am


	9. Chapter 9

The time machine came to a halt with a crash and the four entities within scrambled out. The crater around the machine was smoking, but it and the commotion of the men were just murmuring in the background.

Weaver looked around in wonder, gentle shafts of light filtering through the boughs above and falling on her face.

Suddenly, there was a huge explosion right behind her, blasting her forward onto her face, her back scorched, her hair smouldering, and her flimsy white smock in flames.

The pain was dull at first, a faint throbbing ache that punched through the shock, but then it began to scream, and so did she.

A flash of pale blue light burst from her prone form, extinguishing the flames and leaving her lying there with a blackened back and bubbling skin, trembling in her impenetrable safety barrier and sobbing.

Barely conscious, Weaver heard a staticy ripping sound and vaguely felt arms close around her, gently lifting her up. Another burst of static and the feeling of the void, and she heard music. A light whistling floating on the air. It sounded almost familiar, something Lot had shown her before.

A second later, Weaver felt herself being laid gently down on something soft. She painfully turned her head, feeling her charred skin crack and twist on the back of her neck.

Beside where she lay, the former test subject could see the glowing eyes and aqua shirt of her old friend, 000, looking down at her with an expression full of worry.

The new expression broke her heart; this was far different from his blank-faced stoicism and the one time look of happiness she’d seen back when he built that house, this was pain.

“I’m okay,” she said quietly, “I’m alright, I promise. Please don’t hurt them, they didn’t know I was still standing there they didn’t mean to hurt me.”

She could see the simmering anger under 000’s worry, and was concerned that her might try and attack the men in retribution, but he nodded in agreement.

Her back still burned, was still in agonising pain, and she was still exhausted from the escape and the lack of sleep in the place they’d just returned from. “Hey I’m… I’m gonna pass out now okay Lot? Don’t tell Doctor Cub what happened I don’t want you getting in trouble.” her words slurred, as she barely hung onto consciousness and reached out to the dark brown shape that she thought was Lot’s arm and gently held 000’s hand. “Night night.”

As she slipped away, she felt whoever it was who was beside her squeeze her hand gently in a comforting gesture. As much as today’s experiment had hurt, her sleep deprived mind thought, she’d be all better when she woke up.


	10. Chapter 10

Weaver slowly came back to consciousness to the feeling of something wet dragging across her face, and rapid breathing of stale breath.

She cracked her eyes open and was met with a strange creature licking her face eagerly as her vision slowly lost the blur of sleep. She panicked briefly, scrambling to get away, when she felt the gentle pressure of a hand on her shoulder and heard an unfamiliar voice.

“Easy boy, give her room to breathe.”

She rubbed her eyes, wincing slightly at the pulling on her still healing shoulder muscles. “Leani? Is that you? You sound kinda different.”

“Who’s Leani?”

As her vision finally became clear, she saw a face that was most definitely not Leani, but instead a <strike>very pretty</strike> blonde woman in really cool clothes and goggles. Her words stuck in her throat, and she felt her ears grow hot. “Oh, uh, never mind. You’re not Leani.”

The strange blonde smiled widely, “Nope, not me. Name’s False, who might you be? Never seen you around the server before.”

“I’m… I’m Weaver. Do you know where Ren is? Impulse or Grian maybe? Last thing I remember they accidentally caught me in the blast when destroying their time machine and 000 took me away to somewhere before I passed out.” She paused, “wait, what was that thing that was licking my face before? I remember my carer Lot telling me about dogs when I was in the facility and I’ve always wanted to see one.”

False laughed, patting the side of her leg. “Come here Ben, come say hi.”

From around False’s legs came a large, silver canine with a crimson collar around its neck.

Weaver gasped loudly, her chest swelling in joy; this creature was so big and fluffy and smart-looking. She tried to lift herself up, and immediately collapsed with a loud yelp of pain from her burns.

False stepped forward with a hand outstretched and her face slightly alarmed. “Hey, be careful. Those are some third degree burns, they’ll take a long and painful while to heal.”

The dog sat itself next to the bed just level with where Weaver’s hand could reach and happily let her scratch it behind the ears.

There was a lengthy pause as Weaver pet the dog and let her heartrate to come back down after the huge pain spike before False spoke up again.

“Also I’ve not seen those hippies in a while, but I can go back to their camp to see if I can find them if you’d like?”

Weaver nodded, “That’d help, yea. They saved me from the facility so they might be worried, especially since Triple 0 was the one who brought me here from the explosion.”

False stopped at the doorway and looked back at the injured woman with a puzzled expression, “Who’s that?”

“Oh yea, I think Grian said that you know him as, uh, Herobrine? He was a test subject like me and we’re pretty good friends. I can introduce you later if you’d like.”

False went pale, “uh, sure,” she laughed nervously, “that’d be nice.” And with that, she left in a hurry, leaving Weaver and the dog alone.


	11. Chapter 11

Weaver wasn’t sure how long she’d been lying there, gently scratching the wolf behind the ears; she’d never had the need for an internal clock since she’d never seen natural light before, and due to that time had bled together into an incomprehensible stretch of nothing and everything.

She’d tried narrating her injury better, but her mind was so clouded with pain that she couldn’t focus on her spell.

She sighed, letting her head flop down onto the pillow. She was so bored, and was in too much pain to entertain herself.

She could feel the static along her edges, the world beginning to distort as her mind strained to find something, anything to latch onto.

Suddenly, she heard a voice from outside; definitely masculine, but on the higher pitched end of such voices. She stiffened, heart pounding, as she felt the static around her pulse, and heard the dog begin to growl. The voice sounded pleasant, though, definitely a happier kind of person, but she was still nervous.

The door opened and across the threshold stood a young man, looked roughly as old as Ren did, wearing a blue shirt with a strange swirly letter A on the front, and carrying a book and quill in a holster at his hip. He froze in the doorway, eyes locked on her, and his ears turning red. “Ah, H-howdy ma'am,” He awkwardly looked away, blush deepening, “I’m sorry, but uh, did you know you’re topless?”

She blinked in confusion, “Yea? My back is all burned, it’s gotta heal right? Miss False is going to find Ren and the other hippies because Triple 0 kinda zipped me away in front of them.”

The man just looked stunned, mouth opening and closing a few times as he struggled to find words.

“Are you okay sir?”

“Yeah, I’m fine that’s just a lot to digest all at once. Y'said you’re here with Ren?”

“Kind of? I mean.” She paused, “you’re not with Area 77 are you?”

“I’m not with anyone bar my own self, ma'am. I find large governmental organisations to be very untrustworthy and would rather not align myself with them.”

Weaver laughed, “You talk like Doctor Cub and The Mad One.”

“The Mad One?”

“Yea, he’s half green and half robot. I think Grian called the green things creepers?”

“Oh, you mean DocM, I suppose he is kind of unstable.”

“Yeah…” She averted her gaze, “He was never the kindest back at the facility. His experiments were always painful, even Doctor Cub wasn’t that sadistic.”

“Do you mean to imply that you escaped from Area 77?”

“Yeah, I guess I am.” She laughed, “never really had a name but I guess I go by Weaver, what’s your name?”

The man laughed with her, “Well then Miss Weaver, it’s a pleasure to meet you, my name is Joe Hills. Would you like some company until False gets back?”

“Yeah, Mr Hills, I think I would.”


	12. Chapter 12

Joe pulled some wooden stairs from his pocket and placed it on the floor, sitting down on the improvised seat by the bed. “So,” He said, voice tinged with curiosity, “how did you burn your back?”

Laying her head sideways on her hands, eyes catching the sleeping wolf beside her, Weaver smiled bashfully. “Well when the hippies got us back Grian decided to blow up the time machine and I guess I was standing a bit too close and got caught in the blast.”

Joe winced, “Yikes, that’ll do it.” He routed around in his pocket and pulled out a strange dark green chest.

Weaver watched curiously as he opened it, eyes widening at the strange whooshing sound and an endless void dotted with stars within as the man rummaged inside.

He pulled out a bottle with a glowing liquid within, closing the chest up and turning to Weaver. “Okay this might hurt a bit, and honestly I’m shocked False never thought of this, but this should help heal you.”

Tentatively, Weaver reached out to take the bottle, “okay? I guess I—”

Before she could continue, there was a blur of movement and the sound of shattering glass as she felt a sharp impact on her burnt back. 

She cried out in pain, body tensing and curling in on itself as the glass shards scattered across her burnt flesh and the potion soaked into the open wounds. Suddenly, there was a ripping and crackling and Joe gave a loud and shocked gasp. And Weaver looked up to see Triple 0 behind Joe, sword skewered through his torso.

Joe went pale, breathlessly staring down at the bloody blade, his voice shaking. “Uh… ma'am? A-a little,” He coughed, “a little help? Please?”

The pain in Weaver’s voice turned to anger and fear. “JOE!” She hauled herself from the bed and rushed forwards, pulling Triple 0 off of her new friend, “TRIPLE 0 STOP! HE HELPED ME!”

Blinking in confusion, the entity stumbled back from the two players, hands raised in what could almost be interpreted as surrender, as the previously sleeping wolf awoke and began aggressively barking at him.

The sword was still poking out through the front of Joe’s chest, and Weaver frantically wiped up some of the potion that still remained on her back, swiftly removing the sword from Joe’s body and dabbing the potion on the wound. “Joe? Are you okay?”

Joe coughed, pulling a golden apple from his pocket and began to eat it, the wound slowly healing from the inside out, glowing with a faint golden light. “Yeah, I’m fine.” He wouldn’t look her in the face, but his tone, while a little embarrassed, seemed sincere. As if trying to distract himself, Joe turned and opened the wardrobe against the wall, pulling out a sleeveless grey shirt, a pair of loose black trousers, a pair of sturdy boots and a denim jacket. Still avoiding her gaze, Joe handed the shirt and pants over, instead looking Triple 0 up and down, “So, Herobrine is real then it seems.”

Pulling on the clothes, Weaver chuckled, “that’s what you guys call him apparently, so yeah.” She approached the wolf, cautiously holding a hand out to it, “it’s okay boy, you can calm down now.”

The dog settled somewhat, seemingly content to merely growl at Triple 0, it’s hackles raised.

Suddenly, the door burst open, and in rushed False, her sword drawn and the hippies behind her. She froze in the doorway in shock and Weaver could see the scene registering in the woman’s head; Weaver herself fully clothed, Joe with a bloody hole torn in his blue shirt, an angry wolf, and of course the creature Weaver now knew that she and her friends knew as a monster of some kind.

False’s face was a twisted mix of confusion and fear, and she pointed her blade at Triple 0, “What. The fuck. Is that?”


End file.
